Aaron Collins' Mixed Game Chapter 8
by Psychoflop
Summary: From 5 tables to 3


Chapter 8: Ace-Ace-King-King double suited, From 5 tables to 3.

Level 4, Game 1, Table 1 = No Limit Hold 'em. 25 Ante, 50-100 Blinds. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Laurie 33,462 – Isaac 31,038 – Elizabeth 29,919 – Cindy 28,603 – Damon 26,475 – Julie 16,912

Julie had a puzzled look on her face as she took her seat at her new table. She couldn't even keep her question to herself as she sat down, "Hello everyone, They've added antes to No-limit?"

Damon shared Julie's confusion in his reply "I suppose so."

Cindy (to her credit), knew exactly what was going on: "They sometimes add antes to the blinds in the middle and late stages of no-limit hold 'em in order to induce more action and speed up the game in order to reach a winner that much faster."

Elizabeth nodded at the concept Cindy was describing, paying attention to every 1 of Cindy's words and only adding "This should make the pots bigger."

Isaac smiled, only muttering "Less hands for me to claim my victory over the Aaronverse."

After everyone anted up, Hand #1 began with Isaac folding 3-9 offsuit from under the gun, Elizabeth folding 9-Jack, Laurie folding 4-Jack, Cindy figuring out in her head that she now needed to add half of the total antes to the amount that she was raising in order to intimidate the other players more, announcing "Raise, 400 total." on the button with Ace-9 suited in Clubs, Damon folding King-8 in the small blind and Julie folding 6-10 in the big blind. As Cindy raked in her pot of 675, Julie turned to the dealer and asked "I thought it was illegal for new players to come in as the big blind."

The dealer understood her concern but had an immediate answer "That only applies for when people are coming in as the big blind after a player has been eliminated in the middle of a the rotation. This is after the tables have been consolidated and a new game has started. Also, this is the only seat available. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Julie nodded, accepting the subtle but key difference as well as the apology that followed.

After everyone anted up, Hand #2 began with Elizabeth silently raising to 400 with King-Jack suited in Diamonds from under the gun, Laurie folding 3-King, Cindy calling with Ace-10 suited in Hearts, Damon folding King-7 from the button, Julie folding 6-8 in the small blind and Isaac folding King-4 in the big blind.

The flop came 4-4-10 of 3 different suits. Elizabeth was starting to reach for chips, but then changed her mind and announced "I check." Cindy then went into the tank, thinking "Why did Elizabeth start to reach for chips and then stop? Does she have an overpair to the 4's on the board or something? Maybe my 10 is no good, better to check until I get more information." so she knocked the table three times. The turn card came as the 9 of Spades. Elizabeth started to reach for chips again, but ultimately knocked the table twice to check. Cindy mistakenly read Elizabeth on having pocket 9's (and thus a full house), and so she checked in order to prevent paying off an amazing hand. The dealer patted the table twice and dealt a Jack of Clubs on the river. Elizabeth announced "Check." immediately this time, which threw Cindy off even more. She just checked by making a check sign in the air with her index finger.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." declared the dealer.

"I hit the Jack on the river." announced Elizabeth as she showed Cindy her cards.

"You rivered me then, take it." replied Cindy. Elizabeth smiled as she took in her pot of 1,050, saying nothing

After everyone anted up, Hand #3 began with Laurie going into the tank from under the gun, thinking "I like my Queen-Jack but in this early position and it not being suited, I should probably fold as someone likely has something better." and then doing so. Cindy folding 8-6, Damon announcing "Raise, 400 total." with Ace-Queen suited in Hearts, Julie folding 3-9 offsuit on the button, Isaac laughing out loud and mumbling something about having a computer hand (and wondering what a computer was) as he folded Queen-7 in the small blind and Elizabeth folding 8-5 in the big blind. Damon shrugged as he took in his pot of 675, flashing his Ace as a silent way of bragging to the other players.

After everyone anted up, Hand #4 began with Cindy announcing "Call the 100." from under the gun with pocket 5's, Damon folding 10-6, Julie folding 3-9, Isaac folding King-7 on the button, Elizabeth folding 8-6 in the small blind and Laurie electing just to knock the table, indicating a check with her pocket 4's.

The flop came Queen-3-7 with 2 Clubs. Laurie announced "Check." as neither of her 4's were clubs. Cindy knocked the table twice, as neither of her 5's were Clubs either. An 8 of Hearts came on the turn, Laurie knocked the table (as her hand hadn't improved), and Cindy following suit (for the same reason). The dealer patted the table 3 times and dealt an Ace of Spades on the river. Laurie knocked the table, as did Cindy.

"Time to show your hands, ladies." announced the dealer.

"If you can beat pocket 4's, the hand is yours." announced Laurie as she showed her cards

"I can, but not by that much." replied Cindy as she showed her 5's. She took in her pot of 400 as a couple of the players laughed at the sheer absurdity of the hand.

"That was so anti-climatic. But not unexpected, really." remarked Issac.

"Agreed." replied Damon.

After everyone anted up, Hand #5 began with Damon folding 4-8 offsuit from under the gun, Julie folding Queen-4, Isaac folding 3-2, Elizabeth reluctantly folding Ace-8 offsuit on the button (thinking 1 of the blinds had a better Ace), Laurie announcing "Raise, 400 total." from the small blind with an offsuit Ace-Queen and Cindy immediately pushing her Jack-7 into the muck from the big blind. Laurie showed her cards as she raked in her pot of 625, which lead Elizabeth to wipe her forehead in relief that she was right in her marginal fold and read of the players behind her.

After everyone anted up, Hand #6 began with Julie looking down at King-Jack suited in Hearts from under the gun and announced "Raise, 400 total.", Isaac folded 6-8 offsuit, Elizabeth folded King-7, Laurie looking at black Aces on the button and announced "Re-raise, 1200 total." which lead Cindy to fold Queen-8 in the small blind and Damon to fold 9-7 in the big blind at the exact same time and very quickly. Julie silently went all-in, shoving 15,437 in chips to the centre of the table. Laurie called instantly, thinking slow-rolling Julie would be bad etiquette.

"Time to turn your cards face up, ladies." remarked the dealer.

The ladies obliged, Julie's eyes widened in horror when she saw Laurie's Aces. The dealer patted the table twice and dealt a flop consisting of the Ace of Hearts, Queen of Hearts and the 2 of spades. Julie's eyes remained wide at her royal flush draw while Laurie was happy to make a set with her Aces. The dealer dealt a 3 of Clubs on the turn, no help to either player. Finally, a 9 of diamonds came on the river and Julie was eliminated.

"Thought I could make the royal, but oh well. Good luck Laurie." said Julie, nearly in tears of such understandable frustration.

"Thank you Julie. I'm so sorry that you were only at this table for a few minutes." replied Laurie sincerely.

"Agreed. It was nice to have someone else from my world at the table." offered Elizabeth.

"Goodbye Julie." said Cindy

"Take care, Jules." said Isaac with a feeling that another him, knew another her somewhere. Damon merely waved as the next hand began.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Laurie 50,374 – Isaac 30,738 – Elizabeth 29,544 – Cindy 28,528 – Damon 26,475

Level 4, Game 2, Table 2 = Razz. 50 Ante, 50 Bring-in, 200 completion, 200-400 limits. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Thom 31,689 – Fabio 30,825 – Leila 30,633 – Tara 29,825 – Andrey 29,600 – Gregg 14,900

After everyone anted up, Hand #1 began with Leila being the bring-in bet with an exposed Jack of Clubs, Gregg folding 10-2-7, Fabio folding Queen-5-5, Tara folding Jack-Ace-8, Thom completing the bet to 250 with 8-9-3 of mixed suits, Andrey folding 5-J-9 and Leila not liking the King and 6 that went with her exposed Jack, so she folded without even thinking of defending her bring-in bet. Thom pumped his fist high in the air as he raked in his pot of 550. Then a wave of information flooded his mind that he had no right to have.

"None of you had hands worth playing, did you? A Pyrrhic victory for me, to say the least." said Thom, softly.

After everyone anted up, Hand #2 began with Andrey being the bring-in bet with an exposed King of Spades, Leila folding Queen-2-8, Gregg folding 10-7-10 (and laughing at the absurdity of being dealt a pair in Razz), Fabio folding Jack-6-9, Tara folding Jack-Queen-6, Thom completing the bet to 250 with 6-9-8, and Andrey not liking his King enough to defend the bring-in bet (even with a 5 and 2). Thom took in a pot of 500, feeling extremely confused.

"2 dead hands in a row?" asked Tara, to no one in particular.

"Yeah, I even had a pair." replied Gregg. The others looked at him in shock, eventually believing him.

"This may be a quiet rotation." offered Andrey as an observation.

"Yes, I think so." added Leila

After everyone anted up, Hand #3 began with Thom being the bring-in bet with an exposed King of Hearts, Andrey folding 9-8-9 (laughing as Gregg did the hand before), Leila breaking tradition and completing the bet to 250 with an unlikely 6-10-Queen, Gregg folding Jack-Ace-4, Fabio looking like he was going to throw up as he was folding Queen-10-10, Tara folding Queen-7-Ace, and Thom folding in mild disgust due to hating his pair of 2's slightly more than the exposed King. Leila raked in a pot of 550, feeling the same strange feelings Thom did for 2 hands.

"My hand was bad, and all of yours were much worse." whispered Leila.

"3 down, 3 to go." replied Fabio.

After everyone anted up, Hand #4 began with Thom being the bring-in bet for the second time in a row with an exposed King of Diamonds, Andrey shaking his head in disgust as he folded 6-4-6, Leila announcing "I'll complete the bet to 250." with a 3-2-5, Gregg folded Ace-Jack-5, Fabio looking horrified as he was folding Jack-10-10, Tara folding Queen-Ace-4 and Thom tossing 9-10-King into the muck. Leila frowned as she took in another pot of 550, and Fabio knew why.

"The lioness had a hand worth playing, didn't she?" asked Fabio. Leila simply nodded, Razz was her game, and everyone knew it.

After everyone anted up, Hand #5 began with Thom getting a little pissed off at being a bring-in bet for a third time with an exposed Queen of Clubs, Andrey folding Jack-King-Ace, Leila announcing "I'll Complete the bet again." and putting in 250 with 4-3-2, Gregg calling with 9-4-8, Fabio folding 10-9-Ace, Tara rolling her eyes as she was folding Queen-10-10 and Thom folding 3-Ace-Queen still utterly pissed off that he was the bring-in bet 3 hands in a row.

The dealer nodded and dealt 4th street to each player: A 7 for Leila, A Queen for Gregg.

"200." announced the Lioness.

"Call, I'll catch up by the end of the hand." replied Gregg.

The dealer patted the table twice and dealt 5th street to each of them: A Jack for Leila, A King for Gregg.

"Another 200." announced Leila.

"Call, I know that you caught rough." replied Gregg.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street to each of them: A 5 for Leila, a 9 for Gregg.

"400." declared Leila.

"Raise to 800." announced Gregg. And the raising continued until Gregg was all-in.

"Show your hands and I will deal 7th street face up to each of you." decreed the dealer. The players obliged immediately.

"2-3-4-5-7 low." announced Leila with a grin.

"I'm out no matter what. I have 4-8-9-Queen-King, there's literally no card in the deck that can come and give me the hand." said Gregg, sadly.

The dealer nodded in confirmation of Gregg's statement, and dealt 7th street as a formality. An irrelevant King for Leila, an even more irrelevant Ace for Gregg. Gregg was out, he was gracious in defeat, shaking hands with Leila.

"You're still a great clummer." said Leila, changing the handshake to a long hug.

"You did a good job." said Fabio, shaking Gregg's hand.

"Goodbye Gregg...I think another you and another me have mutual friends that aren't Aaron." said Andrey, Gregg merely pointed at him. It was a way of agreeing with him.

"My world's Gregg...inspired Aaron to get sober. And I think there are other Gregg's who helped other Aaron's in that department as well. Anyways, thank you." said Tara.

"See you later, guy." said Thom as Gregg made his departure. Gregg didn't understand why Thom said the word "Guy." but it felt right to him.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Leila 45,983 – Thom 31,889 – Fabio 30,525 – Andrey 29,550 – Tara 29,475

Level 4, Game 3, Table 3 = Limit Hold 'em.100-200 blinds, 200-400 limits. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Courtney 31,400 – Jenny G. 29,250 – Phoenix 28,963 – David 28,187 – Heather 27,900 – Sherry 15,563

Hand #1 began with Jenny G. Announcing "Raise to 400." from under the gun with Ace-2, Heather folding 10-4, David F. Calling with Ace-King offsuit, Phoenix calling on the button with pocket 2's, Courtney folding 9-5 in the small blind and Sherry folding 2-5 in the big blind.

The flop came 8-Jack-Ace, all Spades. Jenny G. Checked her top pair (due to a pair with a very bad kicker and the flush draw), David F. checked his top pair (mostly because he had the King of Spades and wanted a free shot at the nut flush), and Phoenix announced "Check." (essentially giving up the hand as she had neither a pair or a draw to either a straight or flush). "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt a 4 of Diamonds on the turn. Jenny G. Knocked the table, indicating a check (as her hand didn't improve). David F. Did not improve his hand either so he merely made the check sign in the air with his index finger and pointed at Phoenix, which the dealer (correctly) understood as a check. Phoenix knocked the table silently (as her hand actually got worse). The Dealer patted the table twice and dealt an 8 of Clubs on the river. Jenny G. Announced "Check", David F. Knocked the table three times, and Phoenix knocked the table twice.

"Time to show, everyone." declared the dealer.

"I hit the Ace, but nothing else." showed Jenny G.

"As did I, but I have you outkicked, Ms. Grumbles." replied David F. As he showed his cards

"I'm out, I needed Jenny's 2." mumbled Phoenix as she mucked her cards and David F. Took in a pot of 1,500.

Hand #2 began with Heather folding 8-7 from under the gun, David F. Folding 3-7, Phoenix folding Queen-9, Courtney announcing "Raise to 400 total." with Ace-King suited Diamonds on the button, Sherry calling with an Ace-King of her own in the small blind (although hers was actually offsuited) and Jenny G. Folding 10-4 in the big blind.

The dealer dealt a flop of 2-5-3, all Diamonds. Sherry bet 200 with her gut-shot straight draw, Courtney merely smooth-called with her Ace-High flush (and gut-shot straight flush draw). "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt a 6 of Spades on the turn.

"400." announced Sherry.

Courtney knew that it was time to try and take out the animaux, "Raise to 800."

And the re-raising continued until Sherry was all-in. "Time to show your cards, ladies." declared the dealer.

"Just an inside straight draw for me." said Sherry as she showed.

"No good animaux, I flopped a flush." announced Courtney, there were a few gasps heard at the table from pretty much everyone not in the hand.

"I'm drawing completely dead." whispered Sherry. The dealer nodded to verify that observation, patted the table 3 times and dealt a meaningless King of Hearts on the river. Sherry was already out of her seat and standing up before the card hit the table.

"You...just...took out 1 of the odds-on favourites to win the tournament." said David F., mildly shocked, even scared.

"This has completely changed the entire tournament field." offered Jenny G.

"And our table dynamic, no doubt." replied Phoenix.

"Oh relax guys, every elimination changes those things and she played the hand against me perfectly. Good luck Courtney" remarked Sherry.

"You played the tournament splendidly. I know why some versions of you have some World Series of Poker bracelets." said Courtney with a smile as they shook hands.

"Farewell Animaux." said Heather, a little sad as Sherry took her leave.

"Courtney, due to Sherry's elimination you will actually have to be on the button twice while the blinds shift as normal." announced the dealer. Courtney's smile grew bigger at her temporary strategic advantage, especially as the dealer helped her reach her pot of 15,963.

Hand #3 began with David F. Folding 4-2 from under the gun, Phoenix folding Queen-8, Courtney folding 7-2 offsuit on the button, Jenny G. Folded 5-7 in the small blind and Heather...merely shrugging her shoulders as took back her big blind and added Jenny G.'s small blind to her stack (so, a pot of 300).

"Not a fun treasure if I can't steal it, guys. Then again, I did have pocket Kings" said Heather as she giggled and showed. The other players each raised their eyebrows

Hand #4 began with Phoenix announcing "Raise to 400" from under the gun with Ace-King offsuit, Courtney folding 5-6, Jenny G. Folding 9-5 on the button, Heather calling from the small blind with Ace-2 suited Hearts, and David F. Calling in the big blind with Ace-5 offsuit.

The dealer nodded in satisfaction, patted the table and dealt a flop of 4-5-4 of 3 different suits. Heather silently put 2 chips of 100 into the middle of the table with her inside straight draw, David F. Announced "Raise to 400." with his already made 2 pairs. Both of these actions caused Phoenix to go into the tank, thinking "At least 1 of the players has me beat, and the other player has better draw options than I do." and announcing "Time for me to make another sick laydown." as she mucked her cards face down. Heather called David F. Instantly.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no-limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt a Jack of Spades on the turn.

"400." announced Heather, wanting to continue putting some pressure on her opponent.

"I Raise to 800." replied David F. Not buying her semi-bluff, even for 1 second. The re-raising continued until Heather was all-in.

"Time to show your cards." announced the Dealer

"Just an inside straight draw for a chance to get a lot of your treasure, Mr. Flannagan." said Heather.

David F. Merely grinned at her and replied "Oh my dear lady pirate, You'll need it." as he showed his 2 pair.

"A 3 to win, an Ace to tie. Not even enough Hearts left in the deck to save mine from breaking" offered Heather. The dealer nodded to verify that cryptic statement, patted the table twice and dealt a 7 of Clubs on the river. Heather the pirate was eliminated.

"Well, at least it was Aaron's longest tenured friend who executed the gearbody pirate. Good luck, Mr. Flannagan." said Heather

"Thank you, my lady." replied David F. With a smile and mocking tone of voice as he finally raked in his pot. It was the biggest in the tournament at 28,800 The table went silent until Heather had finished saying her farewells to the rest of the table and left the room. Jenny G. And Courtney merely waved goodbye in order to be polite as Heather was pretty much a stranger to the 2 of them.

"Bye Heather. Holy shit, 2 eliminations at 1 table..." started Phoenix.

"...in 1 rotation." finished Courtney.

"That should help us eliminate some of the non-original Aaron's." said Jenny G.

They were interrupted by 1 of the interdimensional beings who was standing at the top of the stairs, "Ladies and gentlemen, please stop playing so that I may have your attention for a few moments."

Everyone obliged immediately. "Thank you. Now, with Heather's recent elimination not only has exactly half of the tournament field been eliminated, but a logistic...error...has occurred in the game. See, table 3 is down to only 4 players while tables 4 and 5 have 6 players each and tables 1 and 2 have 5 players each. In order to ensure that the playing is as close to equal and fair as we can possibly make it, I must ask the dealers from the fourth and fifth tables to leave their tables and meet each other between them at this time."

The dealers nodded (expecting that something like this would happen at some point in the tournament) and followed the interdimensional being's instructions precisely. The interdimensional walked down he stairs, grabbed a fresh deck of cards from a nearby table and began shuffling. "Now, after I shuffle this deck enough times, I will give each dealer 1 card. Whoever has the highest card will be instructed as to how to send 1 player over to table 3 while the other dealer will have to do nothing further."

The interdimensional being reached the 2 dealers and finished shuffling the cards. He handed 1 card over to each dealer and announced "Dealers, please show your cards to all of the remaining players in the tournament to see."

The dealer for table #4 showed everyone a 7 of Spades, while the dealer for table #5 showed everyone the Jack of Diamonds. The dealer for table #4 nodded and returned to his seat, knowing that he didn't have to do anything else to do. The interdimensional being then walked with Table 5's dealer back to his table.

"Now, deal 1 card face up to each player as you would normally do when we consolidate tables. The player with the highest card will move over to Table #3 and the other 5 players will stay right where they are for now."

The dealer nodded and began dealing as instructed: A 10 of Spades for Joe, a Jack of Hearts for Krystal, a Queen of Clubs for Candy, an Ace of Clubs for Mike, an Ace of Hearts for John and a 9 of Diamonds for Ricky. "Hearts beats clubs, Mr. John Luke is the one who has to move over." announced the interdimensional being. John nodded, shook hands with every other player at the table, wished them luck, grabbed his chip stack and headed over to Table 3. As soon as he sat down, the Interdimensional being announced "Everyone may now resume playing, I believe that each table still has 2 hands left to play in this rotation. Good luck everyone." and took his leave, making sure not to give any of the players any clues as to the real nature of the game that they were playing.

Hand #5 began with Courtney folding King-3 offsuit from under the gun, Jenny G. Announcing "Raise to 400 total." with Jack-10 suited in Diamonds, John calling on the button with Ace-4 offsuit, David calling in the small blind with Queen-10 suited in Clubs, and Phoenix folding Queen-2 in the big blind.

The dealer dealt a flop of 3-5-8 with the 5 and 8 being Clubs. Jenny G. Knocked the table to check (as she only had 2 overcards in relation to the board), John announced "Check." (as he wanted a free shot of making his straight), and David F. Knocked the table 3 times to indicate a check (as he wanted a free shot at his flush). "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt a 7 of Diamonds on the turn. Jenny G. Announced "Check.", John knocked the table once and David F. Knocked the table 3 times (as none of them had improved their hands at all save for Jenny G. Who had an inside straight draw and she wanted a free card in order to fill it). The dealer nodded, patted the table twice and dealt an Ace of Clubs on the river. Jenny G. Announced "Check.", as did John. David F. Could tell that neither of them had particularly great hands, so he announced "Check." on account of betting being pointless.

"Time to show your cards, everyone." announced the dealer.

"Just Jack-High for me." showed Jenny G.

"I have a pair of Aces with a weak kicker." replied John

"Queen-high flush, I believe that I take another one." asked David F. Sarcastically as he added a pot of 1,400 to his stack.

Hand #6 began with Jenny G. Folding 3-5 offsuit from under the gun, John folding 2-5, David F. Announcing "Raise to 400 total." with Ace-5 suited Hearts on the button, Phoenix folding 7-8 in the small blind and Courtney folding King-2 in the big blind. David F. Shrugged as he took in his latest pot of 700.

"I don't think that I like this new table very much." said John.

"I like having you here, but I kind of wish that Candy came over or I get moved over to her table. I know that we're best friends on more than a few Aaronworlds and I wanted to spend some time with her." offered Courtney.

"I just like having new victims to play with." stated David F. Matter of factly.

"I have an affinity for you too, sir. It's as if we're working for the same TV network or company but just 2000 miles apart." said Jenny G.

"I really need to get into buying storage lockers." mumbled Phoenix.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: David F. 58,987 – Courtney 46,663 – John 30,938 – Jenny G. 28,150 – Phoenix 27,863

Level 4, Game 4, Table 4 = Limit Badugi. 100-200 blinds, 200-400 limits. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Angie 30,286 – Aaron L. 29,824 – Melinda 28,513 – Tamara 15,875 – Ivy 15,325 – Buckethead 13,449

Hand #1 began with Buckethead silently putting 4 chips of 100 into the middle of the table from under the gun with the 5-10-Ace-King, Angie folding Queen-4-2-8, Tamara calling 7-3-Ace-2, Aaron L. Folding 4-6-5-8 on the button, Ivy folding 8-7-7-4 in the small blind and Melinda folding 10-Queen-9-9 in the big blind.

Buckethead had the 1st draw: He slid his King of Spades into the centre of the table and was silently pleased that the replacement card was a 6 of Diamonds as it made him a respectable 10-Badugi. Tamara announced "I stand pat." with her natural 7-Badugi. Buckethead slid 200 into the middle of the table, and Tamara decided to just call with her superior hand.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as the 2nd draw began. Buckethead waved his hand at the dealer, indicating that he stood pat and didn't need any more draws. And when Tamara shook her head, The dealer knew that a 3rd draw phase wasn't necessary at all. Buckethead bet 400, Tamara raised 400, and the re-raising continued until Buckethead was all-in. "Time to show your hands. I assume that you both have Badugis already so I'll just skip the 3rd draw phase in order to not waste anyone's time."

Buckethead showed his 10-Badugi, but nodded in silent acceptance of his elimination as Tamara showed her natural 7-Badugi. Buckethead stood up and gave Tamara a big hug (and he hates being touched), demonstrating that even the silent and masked can be good sports. Tamara then began sorting the pot of 14,149 into her stack as Buckethead...non-verbally communicated his goodbyes to the rest of the table:

"I'll miss you." whispered Angie. Buckethead hugged her next. He was going to miss her too, and she knew it.

"Back to Bucketheadland for you then, eh?" asked Aaron L. As he and Buckethead giggled and they shook hands.

"At least in your world, you never had to deal with that fuck-up Axl Rose." said Melinda, Buckethead laughed as he somehow understood who she was talking about despite never meeting him in his own world. Then he began having visions of a Chinese democracy that wasn't very popular.

"Take care, Big B." offered Ivy as they exchanged fist pumps. Buckethead then took his leave of the tournament, with more than a few players relieved that they wouldn't have to deal with the masked 1 anymore.

Hand #2 began with Tamara calling the 200 silently from under the gun with Queen-Ace-9-7, Aaron L. Calling with Ace-8-5-King, Ivy folding 6-10-Queen-5 on the button, Melinda folding King-King-7-8 in the small blind and Angie knocking the table in the big blind to indicate a check with Ace-4-3-9.

Angie had the 1st draw, "2 cards, please." she said as she changed her 3 and 9 of Clubs for a 9 of Spades and Queen of Diamonds. Tamara slid her Queen of Spades into the middle of the table and got an 8 of Spades in exchange, and Aaron L. Announcing "I stand pat." with his natural King-Badugi (which scared the whole table). Angie announced "Check." (as her hand was incomplete), Tamara knocked the table to indicate a check (as she didn't have a Badugi yet either) and Aaron L. Announced "Check." as his Badugi wasn't a very good 1.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as the 2nd draw began. Angie used her 2nd draw to slide the 9 of Spades into the middle of the table and receiving the Jack of Hearts (making her a Jack-Badugi), Tamara whispering "1 please." and changing her 8 of Spades for the 4 of Hearts and Aaron L. Shaking his head as he knew better than to break a Badugi (even a marginal one). Angie knocked the table to check (as her Jack-Badugi was far from invincible), Tamara announcing "I check." as she had yet to even make a Badugi, and Aaron L. Knocking the table to check.

Angie used her 3rd draw just to announce "I Stand Pat.", Tamara sliding in her 4 of Hearts for a 10 of clubs (making her a 10-Badugi), and Aaron L. Shaking his head 1 more time. After Angie announced "Check.", Tamara announced "Check." and Aaron L. Knocked the table 1 last time, the dealer announced, "Time to show off your cards, everyone."

Angie showed her cards and announced "I have a Jack-Badugi."

Tamara smiled and said "No good Angie, I have a 10-Badugi."

Aaron L. Mucked his cards, mumbling "Beats my King-Badugi." as Tamara raked in a pot of 700.

"You guys should probably put your fondness of Buckethead aside if you want to last any longer in this tournament." said Tamara, with every intention of trolling the rest of the table.

"I'll miss his silence, at least he wasn't a complete bitch" replied Angie, taking the bait.

"I know there can be only 1 winner, but try to show a little class Tamara." offered Aaron L.

"Unless of course, you want to have a target on you and all." stated Melinda

"I barely had a chance to talk to him and I know that he doesn't deserve to be dismissed so easily." said Ivy hoping that his size would intimidate Tamara, it worked.

Hand #3 began with Aaron L. Folding 4-8-9-Jack from under the gun, Ivy announcing "Raise to 400." with 7-Ace-3-4, Melinda folding 6-3-5-2 on the button, Angie calling from the small blind with Ace-9-Jack-9 and Tamara folding in the Big Blind with 4-King-3-Queen.

Angie had the 1st draw "Just 1 card for me, please." as she changed her 9 of Clubs for a 10 of Diamonds (making a Jack-Badugi), Ivy re-examined his hand and told the dealer "2 please." as he dumped his Ace of Diamonds and 7 of Clubs with a Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades (making a Queen-Badugi).

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as the 2nd draw began. Angie announced "Check." in an attempt to trick Ivy into betting. It didn't work as Ivy knocked the table (on account of his hand not being that great). Angie announced "I stand pat." and Ivy shook his head at the dealer to declare that he was standing pat as well. As each of them essentially revealed the strength of their hands, no one was surprised when both of them checked, stood pat on the 3rd draw, and checked around 1 more time.

"Time to show your cards." remarked the dealer.

"Jack-Badugi." showed Angie.

"Take it, beats my Queen-Badugi." replied Ivy. Angie smiled as she raked in a pot of 1,000.

Hand #4 began with Ivy folding King-10-6-7 from under the gun, Melinda announcing "Call the 200." with 3-Ace-Jack-4, Angie folding 3-5-2-9 on the button, Tamara folding 9-10-8-4 in the small blind and Aaron L. Checking his King-Ace-10-7 in the big blind.

Aaron L. Had the 1st draw, "2 for me, please." as he dumped his 2 and King of Clubs for a 5 of Diamonds and Queen of Hearts (making a Queen-Badugi), while Melinda silently slid her Jack of Clubs into the middle of the table for a 10 of Diamonds (making a 10-Badugi). Aaron L. Knocked the table to check, as did Melinda.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as the 2nd draw began. Both of them announced "I stand pat." at the same time, so no one was surprised that the rest of the hand consisted of knocking the table and shaking their heads at the dealer. "Time to show your cards." said the Dealer.

"Queen-Badugi." announced Aaron L.

"10-Badugi, I win." replied Melinda with a smile as she took in her pot of 500.

Hand #5 began with Melinda folding 7-4-Queen-7 from under the gun, Angie announcing "Raise to 400." with Jack-Ace-3-4, Tamara folding 6-9-5-6 on the button, Aaron L. Folding 9-3-6-10 in the small blind and Ivy folding King-7-Jack-8 in the big blind. Angie merely shrugged as she took in her pot of 700.

"Nice ante steal." stated Tamara

"All I needed was a Diamond and I had at worst a Jack-Badugi." replied Angie.

Melinda looked at Angie for moment before saying "She's telling the truth guys."

Hand #6 began with Angie folding Queen-2-4-9 from under the gun, Tamara folding 2-7-6-3, Aaron L. Folding 7-Jack-Jack-8 on the button, Ivy announcing "Raise to 400." with King-2-6-Ace in the small blind and Melinda folding King-2-Queen-Jack in the big blind. Ivy shrugged as he took in his pot of 600. Aaron L. Merely stared at Ivy for a moment:

"You had a pat hand, didn't you sir?" asked Aaron L.

"As you addressed me as sir, I will tell you that I had a King-Badugi, I'm very impressed Mr. Langemann." answered Ivy in a way that showed respect.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Angie 30,986 – Tamara 29,824 – Aaron L. 29,324 – Melinda 28,313 – Ivy 14,825

Level 4, Game 5, Table 5 = 7-card stud. 50 Ante, 50 Bring-in, 200 completion, 200-400 limits. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Krystal 31,625 – Candy 29,575 – Ricky 29,088 – Joe 28,925 – Mike 26,019

After everyone anted up, Hand #1 began with Mike being the bring-in bet with an exposed 2 of Diamonds, Ricky announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with Jack-Jack-King, Joe silently calling with 3-Jack-3, Krystal calling with a 10-7-7, Candy folding 2-7-5 and Mike electing not to defend his bring-in bet with Ace-8-2.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to all of the players: A 10 for Ricky, a 9 for Joe, and a 4 for Krystal. Ricky announced "I check.", Joe knocked the table twice to indicate a check and Krystal just looked at the dealer and said, "Deal it up sir." The dealer dealt 5th street face up to each player: A 3 for Ricky, A 2 for Joe, a King for Krystal. Ricky knocked the table twice to indicate a check, Joe announced "Check.", Krystal knocked the table to check. "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: An Ace for Ricky, A 4 for Joe and a 9 for Krystal. Ricky announced "Check." (as his hand didn't improve at all), Joe knocked the table to indicate a check (as his hand didn't improve either), and Krystal announced "I check." (as her hand didn't improve at all either). The dealer patted the table twice and dealt 7th street face down to each player: A 5 for Ricky, A King for Joe and a Jack for Krystal. Each player knocked the table in succession. "Time to show your cards, everyone." asked the dealer.

"I have a Pair of Jacks." showed Ricky.

"Beats my 3's." said Joe as he mucked his cards.

"And my 7's." replied Krystal. Ricky tipped his hat at the dealer as he raked in his pot of 900.

After everyone anted up, Hand #2 began with Mike being the bring-in bet with an exposed 3 of Diamonds, Ricky folding 4-King-Ace, Joe announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with Jack-10-9, Krystal folding Jack-King-6, Candy folding Queen-9-5 and Mike announcing "OK, I'll break with the tradition and actually defend my bring-in bet." as he called with Queen-3-3.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to each player: A 7 for Joe, a Jack for Mike. Joe smiled at his inside straight draw, and elected to just check while Mike knocked the table (knowing that he was ahead but not by much) to indicate a check. The dealer dealt 5th street face up to each players: A 3 for Joe and a 5 for Mike. Joe announced "I'll check.", and Mike sarcastically replied "Free cards for fun." while knocking the table. "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: Joe paired his 9 while Mike caught a 2. Joe knocked the table, as did Mike. The dealer patted the table twice and dealt 7th street face down to each player: A 6 for Joe, and a 4 for Mike. Joe announced "I check." and Mike knocked the table 3 times to check.

"Time to show your cards, gentlemen." announced the dealer.

"Pair of 9's." said Joe, Mike mucked his pair of 3's in silent disgust as Joe announced "Joe P #1." as he took in his pot of 650.

After everyone anted up, Hand #3 began Joe being the bring-in bet with an exposed 3 of Spades, Krystal folding Queen-9-7, Candy folding Jack-8-4, Mike folding Ace-2-6, Ricky announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with 7-7-9 and Joe silently deciding to defend his bring-in bet by calling with 10-10-3.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to each player: A 6 for Joe and a 5 for Ricky, Joe knocked the table twice to indicate a check (and protect his concealed pair of 10's), Ricky announced "Check." (to protect his pair of 7's). The dealer dealt 5th street face up to each player: a King for Joe and a Queen for Ricky. Joe knocked the table 3 times to check, as did Ricky. "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: Joe paired his 3 while Ricky caught a 10. Joe started to reach for chips, but then decided to check. Ricky got suspicious of Joe's shenanigans and checked behind him. The dealer nodded and dealt 7th street face down to each player: Joe caught another 3 to make himself a full house while Ricky caught a meaningless Jack. Joe knew that the action in the hand was dead either way, so he announced "Check." and Ricky knocked the table 3 times to indicate a check of his own.

"Time to show your cards, gentlemen." announced the dealer.

"You filled a boat, didn't you?" asked Ricky, not knowing how he knew.

"I...did. Very impressive, Ricky." answered Joe as he showed his hand. Ricky nodded and folded as Joe took his pot of 650.

After everyone anted up, Hand #4 began with Candy being the bring-in bet with an exposed 2 of Spades, Mike folding 10-5-6, Ricky announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with Ace-4-Ace, Joe folding 10-2-Jack, Krystal folding 9-Ace-3 and Candy thinking out loud "Mike defends his bring-in bet and loses, Joe defends his bring-in bet and wins, what to do? I think I'll defend my bring-in bet." as she called with Jack-2-2.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to each player: A 4 for Candy and a 6 for Ricky. Candy knocked the table twice to indicate a check, and Ricky announced "I check." The dealer nodded, patted the table twice and dealt 5th street face up to each player: A King for both of them. After the entire table stopped laughing at the absurdity of getting dealt almost the exact same card (they were even both red), Candy announced "I check." while Ricky knocked the table 3 times. "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: A 3 for Candy and a Jack for Ricky. Candy decided not to flirt with Ricky (given her track record of hitting on people so far during this tournament) and just knocked the table twice to indicate a check, while Ricky tipped his hat at the dealer. The dealer nodded and dealt 7th street face down to each opponent: A Jack for Candy (that she suspected would give her the win), and an 8 for Ricky (that did not help his hand at all). Candy knocked the table twice, as did Ricky.

"Time to show your cards." announced the dealer.

"Jack's and 2's." announced Candy.

"All yours, beats my pair of Aces." replied Ricky as Candy smiled and took in her pot of 650.

After everyone anted up, Hand #5 began with Krystal being the bring-in bet with an exposed 3, Candy folding 8-3-4, Mike announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with 6-6-7, Ricky announcing "Call." with Jack-9-9, Joe calling silently with 2-2-Queen and Krystal saying "No defending the bring-in from me." as she mucked her 9-Ace-3.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to each player: A King for Mike, A 5 for Ricky and a 3 for Joe. Mike could tell that at least 1 of his 2 opponents was ahead of him, so he knocked the table to check. Ricky announced "Check." and Joe knocked the table twice. The dealer dealt 5th street face up to each player: a 5 for Mike, a 10 for Ricky and a different 10 for Joe. Mike knocked the table twice, Ricky knocked once and Joe knocked 3 times. "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: A 3 for Mike, a second Jack for Ricky and an 8 for Joe.

"Check." said Mike (who wanted a free shot at his inside straight).

"Check." said Ricky (thinking his 2 pairs were somewhat vulnerable).

"Check." said Joe (largely out of boredom).

The dealer patted the table twice and dealt 7th street face down to each player: An Ace for Mike, a Queen for Ricky and a third 2 for Joe. Mike knocked the table, as did Ricky, and Joe announced "Check."

"Time to show your cards, gentlemen." said the dealer.

"Just a pair of 6's." said Mike as he showed.

"2 pairs, Jacks and 9's." replied Ricky.

"3 deuces. I'm like seal team 6. In, out and they never saw me coming. Joe P #1" announced Joe with a smile, knowing the pot of 900 was his.

After everyone anted up, Hand #6 began with Candy being the bring-in bet with an exposed 6, Mike announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with Jack-5-Jack, Ricky folding 10-2-Queen, Joe folding King-6-Jack, Krystal folding 4-7-10 and Candy announcing "I guess I'll try defending my bring-in bet again." and called with Ace-Ace-6.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to each player: A 3 for each of them. After the laughter had stopped, Mike announced "I bet 200." while Candy eventually called in silence. The dealer dealt 5th street face up to each player: A 9 for Mike, A 7 for Candy. "200." announced Mike, and after Candy thought about it for a minute, she called again. "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: A 10 for Mike and a second 3 for Candy.

"400." announced Mike.

Candy knew that she had this hand won, so she announced "Re-raise 400."

And the re-raising continued until Mike was all-in. The dealer announced "Turn your cards face up and I'll deal the last card face up as well, please."

Mike showed first "I have a hidden pair of Jacks."

"2 pairs, Aces and 3's for me." replied Candy.

"A Jack is the only way out for Mike." stated Ricky

"Correction sir, he has 4 clubs so he has a few more outs than that." offered Krystal.

"She's right Rick." said Joe softly.

The dealer nodded and dealt the last card: A King of Hearts for Mike and a King of Clubs for Candy.

"Can we trade?" asked Mike rhetorically.

"Gee, let me think...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmno!" answered Candy.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Candy 55,274 – Krystal 31,075 – Joe 29,775 – Ricky 29,738

Mike was eliminated, but gracious enough to shove his chips over to Candy (the pot was 25,719 altogether, so she appreciated the assistance, however minimal). They then shook hands, as Mike would with all of the others (Especially Joe and Ricky, who were in the storage game on his world as well). He said nothing, and even if he did say anything before he left, he would've been drowned out by the sounds coming from the P.A. system announcement:

"Attention all Aaronverse poker players: As we are now down to 24 poker players, we will now be breaking up table 5 and dispersing the players to the other 4 tables. Thank you."

"I have to deal 1 card to each of you now." announced the dealer. The 4 remaining players nodded as he began: A Jack of Clubs for Joe, an 8 of Hearts for Krystal, a 3 of Diamonds for Candy and a 5 of Hearts for Ricky.

"Table 1 for me, looking forward to playing Isaac." said Joe.

"Table 2 for me, where I know no one at all." replied Krystal.

"Table 3 for me, I think my world's Phoenix is there." offered Ricky.

"Table 4 for me and I'm in about the same boat as Krystal. Then again, she and I did start at the same table." said Candy as they all took their leave for the other 4 tables. The seating chart came onto the screen, looking like this:

Table 1: Isaac, Elizabeth, Laurie, Cindy, Damon, Joe

Table 2: Leila, Krystal, Fabio, Tara, Thom, Andrey

Table 3: Jenny G., John, David F., Phoenix, Courtney, Ricky

Table 4: Aaron L., Ivy, Melinda, Candy, Angie, Tamara

Level 4, Game 6, Table 1 = No-limit 2-7 draw lowball. 25 Antes, 50-100 Blinds. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Laurie 50,374 – Isaac 30,738 – Joe 29,775 – Elizabeth 29,744 – Cindy 29,378 – Damon 25,425

After everyone anted up, Hand #1 began with Isaac announcing "Raise. 400 Total" from under the gun with 9-Ace-7-2-4, Elizabeth silently calling with 10-King-2-5-6, Laurie folding 9-Queen-3-Ace-9, Cindy folding Ace-3-6-Queen-King on the button, Damon folding 10-4-8-7-3 in the small blind and Joe showing some disgust as he folded 9-Jack-Jack-10-4 in the big blind.

Isaac had the 1st draw: "1, please." he said as he slid his Ace into the middle of the table and caught a lucky 8 (making a 9-low). Elizabeth quietly pushed her 10 and King into the middle of the table, getting a Jack and 5 in return (making an unwanted pair of 5's).

"Check." announced Isaac, as his 9-low was rough.

"Check." replied Elizabeth, not wanting to bet any kind of pair.

"9-low." showed Isaac.

"More than enough to win as I had a pair, nice hand Isaac." replied Elizabeth. Isaac announced "Victory is mine." as Isaac raked in his pot of 1,050.

After everyone anted up, Hand #2 began with Elizabeth electing to limp in from under the gun with King-Jack-Jack-2-4, Laurie folding 9-Queen-7-Queen-6, Cindy folding 3-6-5-3-10, Damon folding 8-6-7-10-4 on the button, Joe folding Queen-7-Ace-Ace-3 in the small blind, and Isaac knocking the table as his big blind option with 8-2-3-9-Jack.

Isaac had the first draw again: "Just 1 card for me, please." as he changed his Jack for a 7 (making a 9-low near identical to the 1 that he had last hand). Elizabeth held up 3 fingers on her left hand as she dumped her King and pair of Jacks for an Ace, 4 and 2 (making 2 pair that she very much did not want).

"Check" announced Isaac (thinking that lightning was about to strike twice).

"Check" replied Elizabeth (accepting that lightning was about to strike twice). "You're about to show me another 9-low, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." replied Isaac. "And you fared worse on this hand compared to last hand, didn't you? 2 small pair if my instinct serves me correctly."

Elizabeth (momentarily), felt completely transparent to Isaac "You're absolutely right. Take it Isaac, I think It's safe to say that your genre savviness is restored."

Isaac nodded and took in his pot of 400. "Not completely, I still have yet to figure out the hidden agenda of the interdimensional beings that I've suspected since we arrived."

"The legend should figure it out before the dorkriver does." declared Joe.

"Nice to know that you made it into the second half, Joe." said Cindy with a measure of sincerity, and respect.

After everyone anted up, Hand #3 began with Laurie announcing "Raise. 400 total." from under the gun with 2-3-Ace-6-3, Cindy folding King-7-3-5-Ace, Damon folding Jack-Jack-Queen-8-8, Joe announcing "Call." on the button with 10-5-2-4-Ace, Isaac folding 9-King-4-7-5 in the small blind and Elizabeth sighing, only saying "Not this time everyone, I think that this hand is the worst of the lot." as she folded 9-10-Jack-Queen-King in the big blind.

Laurie had the first draw: "2 for me, please." as she changed 1 of her 3's and Ace for a 10 and a 2 (making a small pair). "And 2 for me, please." replied Joe as he changed his Ace and 10 for a 9 and a 5 (making a bigger pair).

"Check." muttered Laurie, who also knocked the table in order to make sure that her intentions were quite clear.

"Check." said Joe, knowing that with her son being a card shark in the world of the Vodka western that bluffing would be pointless.

"If you're unpaired, the hand is yours." said Laurie sadly as she showed her pair of deuces.

"I'm not unpaired, so you can take it." replied Joe.

Laurie had a look of shock on her face as she took in her pot of 1,050. She did not expect to win the hand at all. "Maybe 1 of the old guard in the Aaronverse will pull this one off."

"Or maybe someone in the middle guard." replied Damon.

After everyone anted up, Hand #4 began with Cindy folding 5-5-Jack-3-King from under the gun, Damon folding 10-Ace-Jack-Queen-7, Joe folding 6-6-7-6-Ace, Isaac folding 4-Ace-9-8-5 on the button, Elizabeth calling the remaining 50 needed with 7-Queen-Jack-5-2 in the small blind and Laurie announcing "Let's take a flop." and knocking the table to indicate a check with King-4-2-Queen-9 in the big blind.

Elizabeth had the first draw: "2 for me, please." she said, changing her Queen and Jack for a Queen and an 8 (to her at least, it was a modest improvement) while Laurie silently slid 2 cards to the middle (her Queen and King) for a 9 and King.

"Check." whispered Elizabeth (who hated the fact that she still had a Queen-low even after the draw)

"Check." replied Laurie (hating her King-low just as much)

"Queen-low." showed Elizabeth.

"It's all yours. I hate having a King in any of the lowball games." mumbled Laurie as the dealer pushed the pot of 350 over to Elizabeth.

After everyone anted up, Hand #5 began with Damon folding 6-7-Ace-3-4 from under the gun, Joe folding 10-10-6-4-Jack, Isaac announcing "Raise to 400 total." with 2-5-Ace-10-9, Elizabeth silently calling on the button with 2-9-9-5-10, Laurie calling in the small blind with 6-2-Ace-3-7 and Cindy folding Jack-5-4-8-Queen in the big blind.

Laurie had the first draw: "Just 1 for me, please." as she dumped her Ace and hid the feeling of nausea from the other players as she paired her 6 in exchange. Isaac was next, and after some consideration he looked at the dealer and asked "2 for me, please." as he lightly tossed his Ace and 10 and received an Ace and Jack in return. Finally came Elizabeth's turn: "Just 2 for me this time, please." as she changed her extra 9 and 10 for a Queen and second deuce. Laurie announced "Check.", Isaac knocked the table once, Elizabeth announced "Check." to end the hand.

"Time to show your cards, everyone." decreed the dealer.

"I have a pair of 6's. I actually want to lose with this hand." said Laurie as she showed her cards.

"I have Ace-low, is that good enough to win?" said Isaac, weakly yet thinking his hand was best

"Take it, it beats my pair of 2's." replied Elizabeth, sadly. Isaac shook his head as he took in the pot of 1,375. He should've lost that hand and he knew it.

After everyone anted up, Hand #6 began with Joe calling by shoving the 1 chip of 100 into the pot with authority from under the gun with 7-2-3-King-9, Isaac folding 3-5-Jack-8-Queen, Elizabeth calling with 2-9-Jack-6-King, Laurie folding 10-6-Ace-6-3 on the button, Cindy folding 9-10-King-Queen-7 in the small blind and Damon knocking the table three times as his big blind option with Queen-4-4-2-Ace.

Damon took the first draw "I'll take 3, please." as he changed his Ace, Queen and 4 for a Jack, 3 and 6 (making a Jack-low). Joe replied "1 card for me, just like me...#1" with confidence as he changed his King and caught a lucky 8 (making a 9-low). Elizabeth silently put her Jack and King into the growing discard pile at the middle of the table as the dealer sent her a 7 and a 2nd 9 that she (obviously) disliked.

"I'm all-in, it's 25 and change to my knowledge. I trust you, dealer." announced Damon.

The dealer needed a minute to count it all, but announced "25,125 is the bet to you, Joe P." said the dealer.

Joe went into the tank for a moment, then lifted his head, stared at Damon and spoke "Young, bold, normally I'd like that but you laid it on too thick. I call."

Elizabeth shook her head in defeat, telling the 2 gentlemen "And this is where the robomom gets off."

Damon smiled and announced "Jack-low" as he showed his hand

Joe smiled wider "9-low. And the legend knocks out the ginger."

Damon tipped a non-existent top hat to Joe as they shook hands. Damon continued around the table

"Take care, Isaac."

"You too Damon."

"Bye ladies."

"Bye." replied Cindy, Elizabeth and Laurie in unison as Damon made his exit.

"Well, I was a glorified background character in this lap." lamented Cindy

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Joe 54,625 – Laurie 50,424 – Isaac 32,513 – Cindy 29,078 – Elizabeth 28,794

Level 4, Game 6, Table 2 = Limit Omaha 8 or better. 100-200 blinds. 200-400 limits. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Leila 46,583 – Thom 31,689 – Krystal 30,400 – Tara 30,325 – Fabio 30,175 – Andrey 29,325

Hand #1 began with Leila folding 2-8-9-5 from under the gun, Krystal announcing "Raise, 400 total." with Ace-2-3-King, Fabio folding 7-3-6-4, Tara folding Ace-10-9-King on the button, Thom folding 8-5-10-Queen in the small blind and Andrey mumbling "Nice blind steal, Krystal." as he folded 9-Queen-2-Queen.

Krystal actually broke tradition as she took in her pot of 700 by actually showing her premium hand. A few gasps were heard.

"Damn." said Tara.

"Any Ace-2 pre-flop hand is great but when you have another baby card and another high card for low and high straight options, your starting hand becomes amazing." offered Leila.

By now the hand was in the shuffle pile being splashed around as the dealer felt a need for mixing up the cards in a way that was more than a usual shuffle would do. Krystal felt obligated to point out something "In point of fact Leila, my hand was also double-suited in Hearts and Clubs."

Fabio nodded as he did notice the suits "She did also have those flush draws. Krystal really did have 1 of the best possible starting hands."

The dealer finished splashing the cards around and re-organized them back into a deck.

"Let the game continue." declared Thom.

"Indeed." replied Andrey.

Hand #2 began with Krystal folding 9-4-10-7 from under the gun, Fabio folding 10-Jack-8-Ace, Tara folding Queen-4-5-6, Thom folding King-2-King-Jack on the button, Andrey folding Jack-6-8-6 in the small blind and Leila looking all confused as she took back her big blind (and Andrey's small blind) with a measly 3-3-Queen-4.

"I thought the splash was supposed to randomize the cards enough to where a lack of action would've been cured." thought Leila out loud.

"It was supposed to. I'm not doing another splash." announced the dealer. The entire table laughed.

Hand #3 began with Fabio folding 5-4-Queen-6, Tara announcing "Raise, 400 total." with Queen-Queen-5-2, Thom folding 9-7-4-King, Andrey folding 3-3-6-Jack on the button, Leila folding Jack-Queen-5-5 in the small blind and Krystal folding 3-3-9-10 in the big blind.

"OK, I'll do another splash. This is just getting ridiculous" announced the dealer.

"Good, as I just won a hand of Omaha 8 with an Omaha High hand. If that isn't ridiculous, I don't know what is." replied Tara as she took in her pot of 700 and showing her pair of Queens.

"OK, now that's funny." stated Thom.

"Imagine if I won a Razz hand with a Stud high hand." speculated Leila.

"Knowing you lioness, you probably have done that at least twice so far." answered Krystal.

"That's a conservative estimate. I'm thinking 5 or even 6 times for her" said Andrey, feeling a need to defend his fellow Russian at the table.

"Indeed." remarked Fabio, just wanting to be a part of the conversation.

Hand #4 began with Tara folding 8-10-Jack-Queen from under the gun, Thom folding 9-4-King-9, Andrey folding 10-King-Queen-8, Leila folding 7-7-Queen-5 on the button, Krystal calling the extra 100 in the small blind with 3-3-King-Ace and Fabio just knocking the table to indicate a check in the big blind 6-9-Ace-4.

The flop came Ace-2-5 of 3 different suits. Krystal announced "Check." with her pair of Aces and gut-shot straight/low draw. Fabio knocked the table twice to indicate a check as he had a pair of Aces of his own and a made 6-low that might continue to improve. "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt a 3 of Spades on the turn. Krystal knocked the table 3 times, to indicate a check (her low hand wasn't made yet and she knew her 3 of a kind was vulnerable for the high hand). Fabio announced "Check." with a grin (he had the low half of the pot locked and a decent straight for the high half so he suspected correctly that he was ahead in the hand). The dealer patted the table and dealt an 8 of Hearts on the river. Krystal knocked the table (as both halves of her hand were weak), as did Fabio (who didn't improve much and didn't need to).

"Time to show your cards." declared the dealer.

"Three 3's for high, Ace-2-3-5-8 for low." showed Krystal

"No good. 6-high straight for high and the nut Ace-2-3-4-5 low. I believe I scoop both halves." replied Fabio.

The dealer nodded in confirmation as Fabio took his pot of 400.

Hand #5 began with Thom folding Jack-9-10-3 from under the gun, Andrey reluctantly folding 5-Ace-10-Queen, Leila folding 8-10-8-10, Krystal folding Jack-8-Jack-7 on the button, Fabio folding 2-6-Jack-5 in the small blind and Tara yelling "Fucking hell." as she showed 2-3-4-9 in the big blind. She took back her big blind (and added Fabio's small blind) for a pot of 300. She wanted some action for her hand, and she didn't care where she got it from.

"3 wheel cards had us all beat, I think." offered Leila.

Hand #6 began with Andrey announcing "Call the 200." from under the gun with Ace-3-5-9, Leila folding 2-8-5-Queen, Krystal folding 4-9-3-10, Fabio folding 10-10-4-3 on the button, Tara calling with 2-7-King-Ace and Thom announcing "Check." in the big blind with Ace-2-10-King.

The flop came 6-Queen-Jack with the Queen and the Jack being Clubs. Tara announced "Check." very quickly (as her King and 7 were clubs), Thom knocked the table to indicate a check, as did Andrey (whose 9 and 5 were also Clubs). "Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt a 6 of Clubs on the turn. "No low half of the hand is possible. This hand will be scored as a high-only hand." announced the dealer.

"400." said Tara with authority as she bet.

"I'm out." said Thom as he folded.

"Raise 400." replied Andrey.

And the raising continued until Andrey was all-in.

"Turn your hands face up before I deal the river, please." instructed the dealer.

"King-High flush." announced Tara as she showed.

"...Crap. My 9-high flush is drawing dead." replied Andrey. The dealer patted the table 3 times and dealt a Jack of Clubs on the river. Tara's pot was 29,425 altogether, and Andrey was eliminated.

"Well played, Tara. Have you ever wanted to be in the movies?" asked Andrey.

"Why? So you can kill me off in some kind of revenge or profane exhibit?" replied Tara. The players who knew of Andrey's "art" laughed.

"Farewell, maestro Iskanov." said Leila, a little sad that she was now the only Russian at the table (in the whole tournament, actually).

"Bye Andrey. You weren't my world's Andrey, but you were close enough." said Krystal.

"It was a pleasure playing with you, sir." said Thom. Ever the polite gentlemen.

"Goodbye Andrey." whispered Fabio as Andrey took his leave.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Tara 59,950 – Leila 46,583 – Thom 31,389 – Krystal 30,300 – Fabio 30,275

Level 4, Game 8, Table 3 = Pot-Limit Omaha High. 50-100 blinds. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: David F. 60,187 – Courtney 44,737 – John 32,713 – Jenny G. 28,700 – Ricky 28,438 – Phoenix 27,263

Hand #1 began with Jenny G. Folding 6-7-King-8 from under the gun, John folding Jack-Ace-3-10 (and wishing that this was still Omaha High-low), David F. Folding King-3-6-7, Phoenix announcing "Raise pot. I think I need to put in 350 if my math is correct." (The dealer verified this by nodding at Phoenix) on the button with 2-9-9-4, Courtney folding Queen-4-6-5 in the small blind and Ricky folding 3-2-King-8 in the big blind. Phoenix turned the pair of 9's face up (but not the other 2 cards) to the other players as the dealer pushed the pot of 500 over to Phoenix.

"I don't think you needed much else." said John.

"I didn't have much else." said Phoenix.

Hand #2 began with John folding 3-10-6-9 from under the gun, David F. Folding 2-8-5-4, Phoenix folding King-Queen-4-4, Courtney folding 10-Queen-2-King on the button, Ricky announcing "Raise Pot." and sliding 250 into the middle of the table in the small blind with 3-Queen-9-9 and Jenny G. Folding Queen-Ace-5-9 in the big blind. Ricky tipped his hat to the dealer as 400 was pushed over to him.

"Why did you put in less when you raised the pot than when Phoenix raised the pot in the last hand?" asked Jenny G.

"I was in a blind so my bet was already partly covered. Phoenix...not so much." answered Ricky.

Hand #3 began with David F. Folding 6-Ace-5-10 from under the gun, Phoenix announcing "Raise Pot." and put 350 into the middle of the table with Jack-Ace-5-Jack, Courtney folding 10-7-9-5, Ricky folding 4-4-10-King on the button, Jenny G. Folding Queen-Jack-6-8 in the small blind and John folding 3-Queen-2-8 in the big blind. Phoenix quietly took in her pot of 500.

"I'm thinking that you had a somewhat better hand than the hand that you had 2 hands ago." speculated Courtney.

"Yes, I did. Nothing premium though. Otherwise you probably would've showed." add David F.

Hand #4 began with Phoenix announcing "I'll call the 100." from under the gun with King-5-Queen-King, Courtney folded 4-Jack-8-9, Ricky calling with Jack-Jack-2-7, Jenny G. Folding 3-9-10-Ace on the button, John calling in the small blind with the 3-4-5-6 wrap (and it was double-suited), while David F. Checked his Big Blind option with Ace-10-9-10 by knocking the table 3 times.

The dealer dealt a flop of 10-4-5 of 3 different suits. Phoenix needed a moment to analyze the board.

"I bet the pot. 400 total." announced Phoenix with her overpair.

"Raise the pot. 1600 total." replied Ricky with his overpair.

John suddenly realized that his 2 pair was probably no good at all (especially with 1 more person to act behind him). So he folded his hand without saying a word. David F. On the other hand was not intimidated on account of him having top set and all.

"I re-raise the pot. 6400 total." replied David F. Phoenix and Ricky kept re-raising on top of that until they were both all-in.

"Turn up your cards, everyone." decreed the dealer.

"I have a pair of Kings." announced Phoenix as she showed.

"I have a pair of Jacks." announced Ricky as he showed.

"I have a set of Tens. Each of you are drawing to 2 outs, if that." stated David F as he showed his cards. Courtney (to her eternal credit) remained silent about the fact that she had buried 1 of the 2 remaining Jacks that Ricky needed. The dealer patted the table twice and dealt a Queen on the turn (which gave Phoenix a couple of more cards that she could win the hand with.) and quickly followed that up with a 6 on the river. David F. Just took out Phoenix and Ricky in the same hand, and it took a couple of minutes for David F. To collect his pot of 56,301.

"Holy shit..." exclaimed Jenny G.

"A double elimination in the same hand." summarized Courtney.

"This tournament is pretty much David's to lose now." determined John.

Ricky and Phoenix made the rounds to say goodbye. Phoenix didn't really know anyone so she just said "Goodbye." to each person still in the game at the table (and not touching anyone or allowing anyone to touch her). Ricky spoke a little more, knowing in passing the Jenny G., John and Courtney of his world. Phoenix and Ricky were both from Aaronworld-1924 (the last from their world still in the tournament, actually) and pretty much didn't even know each other. 1 of the interdimensional beings then appeared again at the top of the stairs "Ladies and gentlemen, please stop playing so that I may have your attention for a few moments."

Everyone obliged. "Thank you. Now, with Phoenix's and Ricky's eliminations, the tournament has created another logistic error. See, table 3 is down to only 4 players while table 4 has 6 players and tables 1 and 2 have 5 players each. In order to ensure that the playing is as close to equal and fair as we can possibly make, I must ask the dealer from the fourth table to deal 1 card face up to each player with the highest card moving over to table 3."

The dealer nodded and followed the interdimensional beings instructions precisely. A Queen of Hearts for Aaron L., a 10 of Hearts for Ivy, a 4 of Spades for Melinda, a King of Hearts for Candy, a 6 of Spades for Angie and a 3 of Spades for Tamara. "Candy Olsen is the one to move over." announced the interdimensional being. Candy nodded, shook hands with every other player at the table, wished them luck, grabbed her chip stack and headed over to Table 3.

"Holy fucking shit, I'm finally sitting at a table with Courtney." announced Candy. "Can I sit next to her too?"

The interdimensional being momentarily freaked out at the rules breach, but waved it off. "If you want to start a new table as the big blind, fine."

"I wasn't a blind at my last table so it would actually balance me out." said Candy with a smile.

The interdimensional being nodded in understanding. As soon as she sat down, the Interdimensional being announced "You may resume playing, I believe each table has 2 hands left to play in this rotation. Good luck everyone." and took his leave.

Hand #5 began with Courtney announcing "Raise Pot." from under the gun, putting 350 into the pot with 9-3-9-10, Jenny G. Folding 6-Queen-4-Jack, John silently calling on the button with Ace-8-King-Ace, David F. Folding Jack-9-6-8 in the small blind (although given how much he had left in winnings from the last hand to put into his stack, he probably would've folded Ace-Ace-King-King double suited in order to give his chips the attention that they deserved), and finally Candy folding 3-5-King-7 in the big blind and focusing her attention on David F.'s stack.

The dealer dealt a flop of 7-Ace-6 with the 6 and 7 being Diamonds. Courtney knocked the table to check her gut-shot straight draw and John checked his top set knowing that they were vulnerable (and liking that his King and 8 were also Diamonds). The dealer patted the table once and dealt a 10 diamonds as the turn card. Courtney announced "Check." (as she hated seeing so many diamonds and not owning any in her hole cards). John just knocked the table twice (actually aware that Courtney could very well be slow-playing a straight flush). The dealer patted the table twice and dealt a Queen of Spades on the river. Both players checked almost at the same time. Courtney showed her hand before the dealer could speak.

"I just hit the 10, that's it." said Courtney as she showed.

"King-high diamond flush." replied John, taking in the pot of 500.

Hand #6 began with Jenny G. Announcing "Raise Pot." with 2-7-7-9 from under the gun, John folding 3-Ace-10-King, David F. Reluctantly folding 6-6-Queen-7 on the button (he still had a few thousand in chips left to sort through), Candy folding 7-4-King-Queen in the small blind and Courtney folding 3-5-Queen-2 in the big blind. Jenny G. Silently took in her pot of 500 as that game ended.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: David F. 116,338 – Candy 55,774 – Courtney 44,237 – John 32,663 – Jenny G.

Level 4, Game 9, Table 4 = Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. 25 Ante, 50-100 blinds. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Angie 30,411 – Melinda 29,038 – Tamara 28,999 – Aaron L. 28,774 – Ivy 15,625

After everyone anted up, Hand #1 began with Aaron L. folding Queen-King-7-King-Ace from under the gun, Ivy folding King-6-3-8-5, Melinda folding 7-9-9-6-Ace on the button, Angie announcing "Call the 100." from the small blind with 2-9-3-10-Queen and Tamara announcing "Check." from the big blind with 5-2-King-2-Ace.

Angie had the first draw: "2 please." changing her 10 and Queen for an Ace and 4.

"3 for me, please." replied Tamara. Changing her King, Ace and extra 2 for a 4, 6 and 10.

Angie knocked the table 3 times, indicating a check with her Ace-low. Tamara announced "Check." with her 10-low (not quite enough to warrant a bet just yet).

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as the 2nd draw phase began. "Just 1 for me, please." said Angie as she passed her Ace for a Jack. Tamara whispered "Just 1, please." as she changed her 10 for a Jack. Angie announced "Check." with her Jack-low, Tamara whispered "Check." with her Jack-low (upset that her hand actually got worse). Angie smiled and asked "Just 1 card again for me, please." as she changed her Jack and paired her 4. Tamara silently passed her Jack over to the discard pile, and was terrified when she caught a 6 (making a very unwanted straight). Angie knocked the table twice to check, as did Tamara.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." announced the dealer.

"Pair of 4's." showed Angie, very depressed.

"Take it. You beat my 6-high straight." replied Tamara. Angie shook her head in disgust as she took her pot of 325. Actually the entire table shook their heads in disgust. And Pity.

After everyone anted up, Hand #2 began with Ivy folding 8-10-7-6-4 from under the gun, Melinda announcing "Raise to 200." with 2-2-9-5-8, Angie folding 3-6-King-Jack-Jack on the button, Tamara folding 8-King-Ace-3-3 in the small blind and Aaron L. Folding 9-9-4-Ace-5 in the big blind. Melinda just shrugged as she took in her pot of 425.

"Nice blind and ante steal." remarked Ivy.

"Thank you very much, though I suspect that I had the only legitimate hand dealt." replied Melinda

After everyone anted up, Hand #3 began with Melinda announcing "Raise to 200." from under the gun with 3-8-2-8-5, Angie folded 5-9-Queen-9-King, Tamara silently called on the button with 2-4-Ace-10-King, Aaron L. Called in the small blind with 2-9-4-2-Queen and Ivy folded Jack-5-Jack-5-4 in the big blind.

Aaron L. Had the first draw: "2 please." as he changed his Queen and extra 2 and got a Queen and Ace in the trade. Melinda silently changed her 8, and got a different 8 in exchange. Tamara announced "3 cards for me, please." as she changed her Ace, 10 and King for a 7,3 and 10. Aaron L. Knocked the table with his Ace-low to indicate a check, Melinda announced "Check." with her pair of 8's, and Tamara knocked the table twice to check with her 10-low.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as the 2nd draw phase began. Aaron L. Silently slid his Queen and Ace towards the discard pile and got a 3 and 7 (making a 9-low), Melinda once again slid an 8 to the discard pile and got yet another 8 in exchange, and Tamara slid her 10 to the middle of the table, and got a different 10 in trade. Aaron L. Started reaching for chips, but ultimately checked his 9-low, Melinda knocks the table (still having a pair of 8's and all) to check, and Tamara silently knocked the table with her 10-low. Aaron L. Announced "I stand pat." with his 9-low, Melinda repeated her actions from the previous 2 draws (pushing an 8 away and thinking things could not get any worse), only this time she catches an Ace to make Ace-low. Tamara slid her 10 to the discard pile and caught a lucky 6 to make a 7-low.

"400." bet Aaron L.

"I'm out." replied Melinda, folding Ace-low very quickly.

"Raise 400." replied Tamara. And the re-raising continued until Aaron L. Was all-in.

"Time to show your cards." decreed the dealer.

"9-low." showed Aaron L.

"7-low." replied Tamara. Aaron L. Was eliminated. He nodded and silently shook Tamara's hand.

"Bye Aaron." said Melinda.

"Take care, Mr. Langemann." remarked Ivy.

"Bye Aaron." said Angie as Aaron L. Took his leave. The dealer analyzed how this would affect the table dynamics and announced "Tamara, you will be on the button for the 2nd hand in a row while the blinds move as normal." Tamara smiled at the temporary strategic advantage.

After everyone anted up, Hand #4 began with Angie announcing "Raise to 200." from under the gun with 4-2-9-8-2, Tamara folding 7-3-3-10-7 on the button, Ivy folding Jack-10-9-5-6 in the small blind and Melinda folding 7-5-Ace-8-4 in the big blind. Angie nodded and took in her pot of 450.

"Another hand where only 1 of us had anything good. Beggar can't be choosers" observed Angie. The others at the table silently agreed.

After everyone anted up, Hand #5 began with Tamara folded 8-Ace-7-10-Jack from under the gun, Ivy announced "Raise." while on the button with 10-Ace-King-2-5, Melinda folding 9-8-4-4-10 in the small blind and Angie folding 7-5-4-3-9 in the big blind. Ivy smiled as he took in his pot of 450.

"About time that I won a hand." said Ivy excitedly.

After everyone anted up, Hand #6 began with Ivy announcing "Raise to 200." with Ace-6-7-9-2, Melinda silently calling on the button with 2-6-5-5-2, Angie calling in the small blind with 8-Ace-3-10-2 and Tamara announcing "No community pots at this table here people, I'm out." as she folded 5-8-7-Queen-5 in the big blind.

Angie had the first draw: "I'll take 2 please." as she changed her Ace and 10 for a 10 and King. Ivy held up 1 finger, then slid his Ace to the middle of the table and caught a Jack in exchange. Melinda whispered "2 please." and changed her second 2 and second 5 for a 9 and 10. Angie knocked the table to check with her King-low, Ivy announced "Check." with his Jack-low, and Melinda knocked the table twice to check her 10-low.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as the 2nd draw phase began: Angie announced "2 cards, please." while changing her 10 and King and getting 2 Queens. Ivy spoke "1 more, please." changing his Jack and catching a 4 to make 9-low. Melinda whispered "1 please." and changed her 10 for a Jack. Angie silently knocked the table to check (hating her pair of Queens), Ivy deciding to slow-play his 9-low by announcing "Check." and Melinda announcing "Check." with her Jack-low.

The third draw phase began: Angie holds up 2 fingers to the dealers and changed her pair of Queens for a 9 and an 8 (making a pair of 8's). Ivy announcing "I stand pat." (knowing full well that he likely just killed any action in the last betting round) and Melinda announced "And 1 more card for me, please." while passing her Jack to the discard pile and getting a lucky 3 (making a 9-low). Angie announced "I check."

"400." declared Ivy.

"I raise 400." replied Melinda. The re-raising continued until Ivy was all-in.

"Time to show your cards." declared the dealer.

"9-low." said Ivy as he showed.

"9-low too." replied Melinda.

The dealer looked at both hands, announcing "Ivy's 9-7 low loses to Melinda's 9-6 low. Ivy is eliminated."

Ivy nodded and shook Melinda's hand (Melinda noting that Ivy is 1 of the few people to have a handshake that hurts her hand). Angie waved goodbye (which made Ivy smile), Tamara gave him a hug (and no words needed to be said) as Ivy took his leave.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Tamara 57,623 – Melinda 44,738 – Angie 30,436

Then came a familiar announcement over the P.A. system: "Attention all Aaronverse poker players: As we are now down to 18 poker players, we will now be breaking up table 4 and dispersing the players to the other 3 tables. Thank you."

"I have to deal 1 card to each of you now." announced the dealer. The 3 remaining players nodded as he began: A 2 of Clubs for Melinda, a 9 of Clubs for Angie, and a Jack of Spades for Tamara.

"Table 1 for me, off to see Isaac." said Tamara.

"Table 2 for me, not sure If I know anyone there." replied Melinda.

"Table 3 for me." offered Angie.

The revised seating chart came onto the screen, looking like this:

Table 1: Isaac, Elizabeth, Laurie, Cindy, Tamara, Joe

Table 2: Leila, Krystal, Fabio, Tara, Thom, Melinda

Table 3: Jenny G., John, David F., Angie, Courtney, Candy

Level 4, Game 10, Table 1 = 7 Card Stud 8 or better. 50 Ante, 50 Bring-in, 200 completion, 200-400 limits. Beginning of Rotation stacks for the table: Tamara 57,623 – Joe 54,275 – Laurie 50,799 – Isaac 33,413 – Cindy 28,703 – Elizabeth 28,244

After everyone up anted up, Hand #1 began with Elizabeth being the bring-in bet with an exposed 4 of Clubs, Laurie announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with 9-3-9, Cindy silently calling with 6-2-7, Tamara folding 9-10-King, Joe folding 3-Queen-8, Isaac reluctantly folding Jack-Ace-King and Elizabeth looking down at a 5 and a 9 to go with her 4 and quietly deciding not to defend her bring-in bet.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to each lady: An 8 for Laurie, and a second 2 for Cindy.

"200." bet Laurie.

"I call." announced Cindy

The dealer patted the table twice and dealt 5th street face up to each lady: A 6 for Laurie and a 4 for Cindy (making a 4-card low).

"200." announced Laurie, Cindy called quietly.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each lady: An Ace for Laurie and a King for Cindy.

"400." announced Laurie with her pair of 9's and 4-card low draw.

"Raise 400." announced Cindy with her pair of 2's and 4-card low draw.

"Re-raise 400." replied Laurie. The re-raising continued until Cindy was all-in.

"Time to show your cards, ladies." decreed the dealer.

"Pair of 9's for high, no low yet." said Laurie as she showed.

"Pair of 2's for high, no low yet." replied Cindy as the dealer patted the table to deal 7th street face up to each lady: A second Ace for Laurie (missing her last chance at a low) and a second 4 for Cindy (missing her last chance for low). The dealer looked at each hand and announced "No lows for either player, therefore Laurie scoops both halves of the pot with 2 pairs Ace's and 9's. Cindy is eliminated.

"The table of...young...ladies is finally beginning to crumble. I'll miss you just for being the veteran from Storage Wars Canada that is actually on Aaron's good side, unlike the others." remarked Isaac.

"Nice save Isaac, really." replied Joe sarcastically. "But on a more serious note, farewell Cindy. I wish we could've played more hands together."

"Me too. I only just got here." added Tamara.

"You've been here since the start of the tournament, so I will miss you very much." said Elizabeth.

"With Lindsay gone, someone from the old guard of Aaron's life has to win." stated Laurie while taking in the pot of 29,203 and staring directly at Cindy.

"Hey, I would've done the same thing. Great hand, Laurie." said Cindy as she took a bow, and her leave.

After everyone anted up, Hand #2 began with Elizabeth being the bring-in bet with an exposed 3 of Clubs, Laurie staring down at her hand, seeing rolled-up trip 7's and announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." (while hiding a lot of enthusiasm), Tamara folding 4-6-Queen, Joe folding 10-5-3, Isaac folding 10-3-King and Elizabeth seeing a 9 and a 6 to go with the 3 and deciding to fold quietly without defending her bring-in bet. Laurie looked very sad as she took in her pot of 500.

"Why so glum?" asked Tamara.

Laurie silently turned her hand face up.

"And that would be why." remarked Elizabeth.

After everyone anted up, Hand #3 began with Tamara being the bring-in bet with an exposed 5 of Diamonds, Joe folding Queen-8-Jack, Isaac thinking he could pull off a bluff and announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with 10-King-8, Elizabeth folding 3-10-8, Laurie folding 9-5-Jack and Tamara quickly folding her 10-2-5.

"Victory is mine." said Isaac with a smile as he raked in his pot of 500.

"Bluffing with the best hand, nice work Isaac." replied Joe.

After everyone anted up, Hand #4 began with Joe being the bring-in bet with an exposed 3 of Spades, Isaac announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with 4-8-8, Elizabeth folding 3-Jack-9, Laurie folding King-10-Ace, Tamara announcing "Call the 200." with Queen-Queen-Ace and Joe stating "I'll defend the bring-in bet for once." with a 5-6-3.

The dealer patted the table 3 times and dealt 4th street face up to all players: A 10 for Tamara, a 9 for Joe and a 5 for Isaac.

"Check." whispered Tamara.

"Check." stated Joe.

"Check." replied Isaac.

The dealer dealt 5th street face up to all players: A 9 for Tamara, A King for Joe and an Ace for Isaac. Tamara knocked the table twice to indicate a check, Joe just pointed in the general direction of Isaac while staring directly at the dealer to introduce a new method of checking to the masses and Isaac knocked the table 3 times.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to all players: An 8 for Tamara, A Jack for Joe and a 7 for Isaac (that locked up the low half of the pot for him). Tamara knocked the table twice to check her pair of Queens, Joe announced "Check." (essentially giving up the hand) while Isaac went into the tank, thinking: "I think I have the low half locked, but do I have a shot at the high? I should probably check for the free and unlikely chance to scoop up both halves of the pot." After Laurie threatened to call a clock on him, Isaac just announced "Check."

The dealer nodded and dealt 7th street face down to all players: A meaningless 4 for Tamara, An equally meaningless Queen for Joe and a 6 for Isaac (making a better low AND a straight).

"Check." announced Tamara, thinking that she was beat on at least the low half of the pot that she didn't have.

"Check." replied Joe, thinking he was beat on at least the low half of the pot that he didn't have.

"Check." said Isaac with a grin, he knew he was going to scoop both halves of the pot and betting was pointless.

"Time to show your cards, everyone." declared the dealer.

"Pair of Queens, no low." said Tamara as she showed.

"Beats my...1 King and no low." replied Joe.

"8-high straight and Ace-4-5-6-7 for low. I believe I scoop both halves of the pot." suggested Isaac with a measure of coy as he took in his pot of 850.

After everyone anted up, Hand #5 began with Joe being the bring-in bet with an exposed 3 of Hearts as his upcard, Isaac folding Jack-8-5, Elizabeth announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with 4-5-7, Laurie folding Jack-7-Queen, Tamara folding 7-8-Queen and Joe silently deciding to defend his bring-in bet as he had a hidden pair of Queens to go with his 3.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to both players: A 9 for Joe and a second 5 for Elizabeth. Joe knocked the table twice to indicate a check, Elizabeth whispered "Check." at the dealer. The dealer then dealt 5th street face up to both players: A 10 for Joe and an Ace for Elizabeth. Joe announced "Check." and Elizabeth made a check sign with the index finger of her left hand that the dealer caught.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: An Ace for Joe and a 10 for Elizabeth. Joe knocked the table three time to indicate a check, as did Elizabeth. The dealer dealt 7th street face down to each player: A 7 for Joe and a second 10 for Elizabeth. Both players checked by knocking the table twice due to not having a low hand.

"Time to show your hands." decreed the dealer.

"Pair of Queens, no low." announced Joe.

"2 pair, 10's and 5's. I also have no low but I still scoop both halves of the pot." said Elizabeth with a smile as she took in her pot of 650.

After everyone anted up, Hand #6 began with Joe being the bring-in bet with an exposed 2 of Clubs, Isaac folding 4-10-7, Elizabeth announcing "I'll complete the bet to 200." with 2-7-3, Laurie folding Ace-King-2, Tamara folding 10-6-King and Joe announcing "I'll defend my bring-in bet." as he saw 3 and a 7 to go with his 2.

The dealer dealt 4th street face up to both players: A Queen for Joe and an 8 for Elizabeth.

"200." said Joe as he slid 2 chips of 100 to the middle of the table.

"Call." replied Elizabeth.

The dealer dealt 5th street face up to both players: A 5 for Joe and a 4 for Elizabeth (making her an 8-low already).

"200." announced Joe.

"Call." replied Elizabeth knowing that she had nothing for high.

"Betting limits are doubled to 400 and there are no limits to the number of re-raises" declared the dealer as he dealt 6th street face up to each player: A 4 for Joe (making a 7-low) and a 9 for Elizabeth.

"400." announced Joe.

"Raise 400." announced Elizabeth.

"Re-raise 400." replied Joe. The re-raising continued until Elizabeth was all-in.

"Show your cards and I will deal 7th street face up to each of you." decreed the dealer. Both players obliged.

"Queen-high for high, 7-low." said Joe as he showed.

"Wow. 9-high for high, 8-low for low. I'm behind in both halves. Please Da Vinci, let me stave off elimination" replied Elizabeth.

The dealer nodded to confirm Elizabeth's statement, patted the table twice and dealt 7th street face up to each player: A meaningless 9 for Joe and a Jack for Elizabeth. Somehow, Joe's Queen-high was enough to scoop both halves of the pot and eliminate Elizabeth. Broken was a word that actually failed to summarize Elizabeth's feelings at this moment in time.

"Normally I'm a lot more mature than this but, that's for taking out Aaron's mom." said Joe with a voice that indicated a measure of vengeance.

"It's OK, well played Joe. I doubt anyone else in this field could call that many re-raises with Queen-high and win." replied Elizabeth.

"And another 1 bites the dust." said Isaac as he reluctantly hugged Elizabeth goodbye.

"It's OK Elizabeth, I'll hold down the ladies side of the fort for you." said Laurie, oblivious to Tamara.

"Hey!" exclaimed Tamara, feeling slighted. Laurie winced, then told her "Sorry." Tamara shrugged it off in acceptance. 1 of the interdimensional beings then appeared again at the top of the stairs "Ladies and gentlemen, please stop playing so that I may have your attention for a few moments."

Everyone obliged. "Thank you. Now, Elizabeth's elimination has created another logistic error. See, table 1 is down to only 4 players while tables 2 and 3 have 6 players each. In order to ensure that the playing is as close to equal and fair as we can possibly make it, I must ask that the dealers from the second and third tables to deal 1 card face up to each player with the highest card from each table moving over to table 1."

The dealer from table #2 nodded and followed the interdimensional beings instructions precisely. A Jack of Clubs for Leila, a Queen of Diamonds for Krystal, a 3 of Spades for Fabio, a King of Clubs for Tara, a King of Diamonds for Thom and a 7 of Spades for Melinda. "Thom is the one to move over from table 2, will table 3 now do the same thing please?" asked the interdimensional being.

The dealer from table #3 nodded and followed the interdimensional beings instructions precisely. A 7 of Hearts for Jenny G., a King of Hearts for John, a 5 of Hearts for David F., an Ace of Spades for Angie (that made the rest of the dealing to the other players pointless but the dealer continued anyway), an Ace of Hearts for Courtney and a 3 of Hearts for Melinda. "Angie is the one to move over from table 3. Thankfully this rotation and in fact, level have finished so it's a fresh start of sorts for everyone still in the tournament" announced the interdimensional being. Thom and Angie nodded, shook hands with every other player at their respective tables, wished them luck, grabbed her chip stacks and headed over to Table 1. But not before they exchanged some dialogue with each other first:

"OK so other than maybe David F., you've known Aaron the longest. Have you figured out the real reason as to why we're playing yet?" asked Angie.

"No. On the other hand, I do know that our hosts are getting progressively less honest though." answered Thom as they took their new seats.

End of Rotation stacks for the table: Joe 82,019 – Laurie 79,802 – Tamara 57,073 – Isaac 34,063 – Thom 30,714 – Angie 30,386

"We have reached the sweet 16, ladies and gentlemen. Will level 5 lead us to a winner? Asked the interdimensional being, to no one in particular as he returned to the control room.


End file.
